The Gateway Alchemist
by MyHikari
Summary: Elizabeth Elric, daughter of the legendary Edward Elric, is determined to become a State Alchemist, even if it involves dragging her brother, her cousins and anyone else she meets along the way into her shenanigans.
1. Elizabeth Elric

The Gateway Alchemist

A/N: Ta-da! Since it's almost my birthday, I'm having Big Update Time, but I'm also introducing a brand-spanking-new fic, FMA style! This is about 20 years after the Promised Day, and follows the next gen's adventures, mostly Ed's son and daughter. (Don't worry, the adults will be there too, Edward Elric is my heart and soul, I love him so much I'm seriously out of control.) The kids you meet in this chapter are:

•Wesley Elric → born 1918, aged 17 (Edward & Winry)

•Elizabeth Elric → born 1920, aged 15 (Edward & Winry)

•Jade Elric → born 1924, aged 11 (Alphonse & Mei)

•Opal Elric → born 1924, aged 11 (Alphonse & Mei)

•Henry Elric → born 1929, aged 6 (Alphonse & Mei)

* * *

_Resembool, Eastern Sector, Amestris 1935_

"That was a perfect transmutation, Elizabeth," Alphonse Elric spoke, looking on at his 15 year old niece. Living half of each year in Resembool, whenever Al was there he would instruct his niece and nephew in the physical aspects of alchemy, as they could only learn theoretically from their father.

"Of course it was, Uncle Al, I am my father's daughter after all!" the girl replied, grinning up cheekily at her Uncle, who merely rolled his eyes. Elizabeth Elric certainly inherited her mother's looks, but she was an interesting spitfire of a combination of her parent's personalities. Alphonse couldn't help but be reminded of his brother at her age.

"Don't be getting a big head there now, your dad may have been an alchemy genius, but even if he got his alchemy back right now I could still kick his butt!" the older Elric bragged, as he clapped his hands together and cleaned up the yard from all the transmutations they had worked on.

"I wish I could transmute without a circle," Elizabeth pouted, looking on at her uncle enviously. Alphonse gave her a grim look.

"El, Al, Winry's putting dinner on the table," Edward Elric said, popping his head out the front door of his home. When Ed and Winry had first gotten married, they built their home where the old Elric house was, and later a small cottage right next to it for Al and Mei's family, who lived there when they weren't in Xing.

"Great! I'm starving!" Elizabeth exclaimed, rushing into the house, her blonde braid flying behind her. Al smiled at his older brother.

"She's a chip off the old block."

"Yeah, I know. But don't think that excuses you trash talking my fighting skills!" Ed said, giving his brother an elbow jab before entering the house with a pout.

The two brothers went and sat at a bustling table where all their children were already seated, Edward's 17 year old son Wesley, Elizabeth, Al and Mei's 11 year old twins Jade and Opal, and their 6 year old son Henry.

"And then Mom hit the guy with the wrench, it was awesome!" Wes said, shrinking when his mother placed a dollop of potato on his plate with a glare. The younger kids chuckled, they found great amusement in their older cousin's fear of his mother.

"Was it Rusty?" Elizabeth asked, taking a sip of milk, which she unlike her father and brother, did not hate.

"No thankfully, otherwise I think the guy would've gotten instant tetanus," the boy replied, referring to Winry's favorite wrench.

"You can still see bloodstains from when she hit Uncle Ed," Jade murmured, exchanging a fearful glance with Opal.

"Ahh, trusy Rusty." Wes sighed nostalgically, as the adults gave him a weird look.

"Wes, El, when your Aunt and Uncle leave for Xing in a few days, we'll be heading to Rush Valley. Garfiel called, and he's got orders coming in left and right, so he wants me to help out for a couple weeks." Winry said, finished serving and sitting in front of her own plate. "He's getting older and he doesn't think he can handle the rush even with Paninya trying to help out."

"I could finally get that wrench I've been saving up for," Wes said thoughtfully. Even though he looked just like his dad, and liked alchemy, he enjoyed tinkering with automail and experimenting with using alchemy in the process of making it. Mei was even teaching him alkahestry to see if it would help with automail installations.

"Aww, Rush Valley, there's nothing alchemy related there, it's all desert and automail," Elizabeth whined quietly. Her dad overheard her and smirked.

"Tell me about it."

"Actually, Winry, Mei and I were thinking, if Wes and Elizabeth wanted to come with us to Xing and then come back here when you return from Rush Valley, then that would be a nice little adventure for them," Al said, exchanging an excited look with his wife.

"Xing? I'm not sure..." Winry said, looking at her children with a concerned expression.

"It'd only be until you're back from Rush Valley. A vacation, basically." Mei offered as she cut up Henry's meat for him.

Winry remained silent, pondering their offer in her head. Elizabeth and her brother exchanged a hopeful look.

"I think they should go, Win. Elizabeth would certainly be more entertained in Xing than in Rush Valley, and Wes is old enough." Ed said, breaking the silence. His wife sighed.

"Well, I suppose the majority has ruled then. But, kids, be good for your Aunt and Uncle, or else!" Winry said, smiling dangerously.

Wesley and Elizabeth both gulped, but Jade and Opal high-fived, clearly excited for their cousins to see their other home.

"I'm so excited, we'll get to play with Wesley's hair all the time!" Jade babbled, causing Wes to blush.

"And there's so many ancient boring things you like so much, Elizabeth, especially in Uncle Ling's giant library!" Opal exclaimed, matching her twin's fervor.

"You little pests wouldn't know what's interesting if it smacked your faces," Elizabeth growled lowly, so none of the adults would hear. She was often scolded for thinking the girls annoying. Wes shot her a disapproving glare.

"We could take you to meet the emperor," Mei said, smiling at her niece and nephew.

"Oh, Ling? What's he been up to?" Edward questioned, not having seen him for quite some time.

"He's been setting up an alkahestry university, actually. He's offered for Alphonse and I to teach there. We're still considering it."

"It's a wonder he's not fat in his middle age," Ed said randomly, even though he was shoveling his own dinner down pretty fast.

"Well he does have 4 children he probably helps to train himself, that might keep him in shape," Al pondered.

"We both know Lan Fan probably does the brunt of it, even if it's considered improper. Honestly, the way he is, it's a wonder he and his family don't eat most of Xing's crops."

"And why's that, Dad?" Wes asked, as neither he nor Elizabeth had ever met him, despite hearing a story or two here and there, usually one about eating a shoe in the stomach of a homunculus.

Alphonse chuckled. "He has a rather large appetite. When he was a prince, he had a habit of pretending to be collapsed and having people buy him food."

"Not a normal amount either, he stuck me with huge room service bills! Luckily, State Alchemists make bank, so at the time it wasn't an issue, but it was still annoying as hell," Ed grumbled.

"Being a State Alchemist must've been super cool," Elizabeth said. "I'd love to be one someday."

The Elric brothers exchanged a worrying glance, and Winry's hand tightened on her fork. "Not really, El. Back in those days, State Alchemists were basically human weapons. I only joined so I could research ways to get Al's body back from beyond the Gate, and I got off pretty lucky because the bastard colonel mostly let me do just that."

"Edward, he's not a colonel anymore, he's the Fuhrer," Winry warned.

"Hold on a second, Fuhrer Mustang was your commanding officer?" Opal asked, her gold eyes wide as she looked between her father and uncle.

"Don't you listen when they tell stories? It's not like that's a secret." Elizabeth said, taking a bite of potato.

"El, they're only 11," Wes admonished, as the twins gave a wary glare to their girl cousin and started speaking rapidly in Xingese to each other.

"I hate it when they do that, it's like they're mocking me," Elizabeth grumbled to her brother. "It's even worse when they try to confuse me by pretending to be each other."

"Maybe you should learn to tell them apart, like everyone else?" Wes teased, earning a tug on his ponytail. "Ow, Elizabeth, that hurt!"

Winry stood, collecting dishes from their meal. "That's enough bickering, you two."

The two quieted, but when their mother's back was turned, Ed whispered "She's one to talk," causing the pair to erupt into giggles.

"What was that, Ed?!" Winry asked, lifting the wrench the children had named Rusty.

"Nothing, Win!"

* * *

Later on that night, Wesley knocked on the door to his sister's room, and opened it to see her in pajamas with her hair down, reading an alchemy book. "You really shouldn't be so mean to Jade and Opal," he said, plopping down in her desk chair.

"It isn't my fault they're annoying," she replied, dogearing the page she was reading and closing the book.

"They're worried you hate them."

"I don't hate them, Wes, they just do little annoying cousin things that irritate me."

"Are you sure you aren't just jealous they like me better?" Wes said, a gloating look on his face, not unlike the one their dad would get when he told stories of his adventures. "Just try being nicer to them while we're in Xing, maybe they'll stop playing pranks on you."

Elizabeth turned away from her brother, and reached under her bed, pulling out a map and travel guide she'd found in her dad's old briefcase. "Yeah, about that... We aren't going to Xing."

Wes looked at her blankly, his gold eyebrows knitting together. He hated being pulled into his sister's schemes.

"Instead," she continued, "We're going to Central!"

"...and however do you plan to pull that off?"

"Easy peasy, to get to Xing by railway we have to stop in East City first,but when we get there we'll escape Uncle Al and Aunt Mei and hop a train to Central. And from there we can find a way to research transmutation without a circle and once I figure it out, I can become a State Alchemist just like Dad!"

"El, you know as well as I do that only people who've preformed human transmutation can use alchemy without a circle, and I'm sure as hell not letting you do that!" Wes said, standing up and looking down at her, a severe look on his face. "Don't be such an idiot! In Xing you could do all the research you want without getting in any trouble, and if you wanted to go to Central so bad, you could go with Dad when he has to give one of his 'take ten, give eleven' speeches."

"You don't understand, Wes," Elizabeth said, looking down at the map and travel guide. "In Xing, they're more concerned with medical applications of alkahestry, trying to find appropriate research would be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. Besides, who knows how long it would be before I have another chance to travel?"

"Uncle Al and Aunt Mei are being very nice, offering to take us to Xing with them! I can't believe you want to betray their trust like that!"

Wes continued to look down at her, and she lifted her head to meet his stern gaze. "I want to find a way to see what's in the Gate without preforming a human transmutation. I've asked Dad and Uncle Al but they won't tell me anything about it. I figure it'll be easier to apologize than to convince them to let me go to Central."

"El, why is it so important you do this now? What's wrong with waiting until you're old enough to go on your own?" he whispered, a little frightened for her.

"I want to give back eleven."

"Godammit, you have got to be kidding me!"

Elizabeth stood, and began to pace around her bedroom. "No, I'm serious. We've had such a good and sheltered life here in Resembool, while there's people out in the world who haven't. I feel like I could help them if I could be like Dad was. Except, I don't have the ability to transmute without a circle, which is why he got to be a State Alchemist so young in the first place."

"People like Dad and Uncle and Grandma Izumi think of that ability as a mark of their sins. They shouldn't have even survived their attempts at human transmutation."

"But if I didn't do a human transmutation, then there would be no stigma attached."

"It doesn't feel like a good idea," Wes remarked with a frown. "It feels like the beginning of a cautionary tale. I feel like you're going to make some horrible mistake!"

"You can't stop me," she spoke defiantly, daring him to go against her.

"I know, you stubborn idiot, and that's why I'm coming too, but if I think it's too dangerous then I'll haul your ass home and make you give it up!" he said, before leaving the room so she couldn't have the last word. However, she smiled, knowing this would be his reaction.

"Thank you, brother."

* * *

A/N: Wow! The first chapter! Honestly, if you had told me a few months ago I was gonna write an FMA fic, I would've said "What's FMA?" I randomly decided to dive into the series a while back and now I'm completely obsessed. It's frightening really, how quickly I fell in love with it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this, please, let me know what you think!

Love,

MyHikari


	2. Escape to Central

A/N: Hi guys! I know I said my Korra or Naruto fics would probably be updated first, but I got too excited and so here's a dollop of TGA ahead of schedule. I don't think we'll meet anyone else this chapter, so I'll get right into reviewer responses. Thank you to everyone who faved, followed and reviewed!

**Disclaimer**: _I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist! Also, I have nothing against people named Ellie, Liz, Lizzie, Eliza, Liza, Libby, Beth, Betty or Bess._

Infinite Katalyst: Honestly, I think saying EdWin and AlMei is enough of a hook for you to read.

purpleswans: Thank you, darling!

GummyDrive: I'm so happy you're enjoying it, and I hope for it to be quite epic myself!

* * *

Elizabeth and Wesley sat on a bench in the Resembool train station, watching as their parents bid their aunt, uncle and cousins goodbye. Both were nervous, having never escaped from anything in their life, except maybe some flying wrenches.

Even the thought of flying wrenches was enough to make them shiver, considering they knew how much trouble they were going to be in once they finally did come home. Winry turned to the pair, easily flustering them in their anxious state.

"You have fun in Xing now, and be good for your Aunt and Uncle. I'll see you guys in a couple weeks, call me when you get to Xing, ok? I'll be in Rush Valley quicker than you guys'll cross the desert."

"Sure mom," Wes said, hugging her, but shooting his sister a dirty look over their mother's shoulder. Edward approached his wife and children, setting a hand on Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Stay out of trouble, guys. I know it'll be exciting since you haven't been there since you were babies, but don't drive them crazy, please."

Elizabeth stood and hugged her father unexpectedly tightly. "I'm gonna miss you guys."

Ed hugged her back, patting her head softly. "Hey, it's only a few weeks. When I was your age I was gone from home all the time."

Winry stepped forward and took her turn hugging Elizabeth, as Wes and Ed said their goodbyes. "Keep an eye on your sister, Wes."

Rolling his eyes, the Edward lookalike nodded. "I'll certainly try."

"You two ready?" Alphonse called, holding his 6 year old son Henry's hand. The young boy looked just like his dad, but with dark brown hair and his mother's eyes.

The two teens nodded, grabbed their bags and said a final goodbye to their parents before stepping on a train to East City. Al and Mei led their party to a pair of booths facing each other, where the 7 could fit comfortably provided Henry sat on somebody's lap.

Elizabeth looked to Jade, who sat between her and her brother. The girl's intrusion meant she couldn't really discuss the escape plan with Wes, even though they had gone over it earlier that morning.

"Ellie, do you wanna play a game?" Jade asked, a mischievous glint in her gold eyes. Knowing that the little girl was baiting her, the blonde Elric tried to keep herself composed.

"Don't call me Ellie, Jade! We've been over this! I don't like nicknames!"

"Oh really, _El_?" Wes asked, deliberately using the only nickname she found remotely acceptable.

"Yes, _Wessie_."

At the bickering, Al started to chuckle. "You know, that sorta reminds me of when your dad would get called short. Of course, I was much taller and good looking-"

"You were a suit of armor, Alphonse," Mei said with exasperation, to which Henry started calling out "Suit of Armor! Suit of Armor!" from her lap.

"-So everyone thought that I was the Fullmetal Alchemist instead of him."

His niece started to pout a little, before he realized that she was only 5'1" at 15 years of age. Wesley was a much more reasonable size, a couple inches taller than his father had been at 17.

"That's ok, Elizabeth, that means you can get a tall husband like your Uncle Alphonse. It creates interesting bedroom scenarios, if you know what I mean," Mei said, winking conspiratorily. The two older kids immediately blushed, and Al did as well.

"Mei, stop.." her husband muttered, looking very embarassed and hiding his face while his wife smirked, seeming pleased with herself.

"We have three children for a reason, Alphonse."

Wes scooted in his seat and closed his eyes, trying to get rid of the mental image of his Uncle Alphonse being crawled over sexually. "Ok then, wake me up when we're in East City."

"I don't get it, how can he sleep so easily on a train?" Opal asked, looking up at her parents a few moments later, Wesley already fast asleep and snoring lightly.

"Uncle Ed does that, he slept through a train getting hijacked once..."

* * *

"Are you ready to go, Wes?" Elizabeth whispered, as the Elrics got off of the connecting train in East City Station and prepared to get on the one that would take them to Xing. The golden haired teen nodded, stepping onto the next train.

Their plan involved getting on the train, before promptly getting off of it, to trick the adults into thinking they were lost somewhere on the train. They just needed excuses to be separated.

"Ah, go on ahead Uncle Al, Aunt Mei, I'm just gonna head to the bathroom and then catch up." Elizabeth said, pointing to a nearby bathroom. The two nodded, and continued on leading the group down the car. Slipping off of the train, she waited 5 minutes at their designated wait spot, before her brother found her.

"How did you get away, and with your bag to boot?" she asked, looking up to him.

"Told them I wanted to examine the engine room and talk shop with the conductors, then I muttered some names of tools, and then started asking technical questions about the engine and then they got confused and sent me away."

"I guess working with Mom can be useful sometimes," she said with a nod, getting up and pointing towards a train. "That's it right there, the train to Central."

"Ok, let's go."

* * *

Jade and Opal sat looking out the window of their train compartment as all sorts of people walked by, catching trains and waiting for them. The trains that traveled long distances were better equipped for people to rest, thus Al and Mei decided to bookone to accommodate their large traveling party.

"...maybe she's feeling sick?" they overheard Mei whisper to Al. "It's been 10 minutes now."

Jade turned to Opal and started to whisper quietly. "I think Wes and Elizabeth are escaping. I overheard Elizabeth ask Wesley if he was 'ready to go', earlier and it was really suspicious."

"I dunno, Jade, why would they want to escape?" Opal asked, before seeing a girl with a blonde braid and a boy with gold hair tied in a ponytail and gasping. "Is that them?"

"What's going on, girls?" Al asked, looking to the twins after hearing whispering and gasping. They exchanged a nervous glance, and tried to formulate a plan.

"Well, we're getting kind of worried about Elizabeth," Opal began, wondering if she should reveal what might be ocurring under her parents noses.

"And so we're going to go to the bathroom to check on her!" Jade said, cutting her sister off with a hidden elbow jab, before grabbing her arm and leading her out of their compartment. "Come on, Opal."

"Ok, if she needs anything just let us know," Mei called, stroking Xiao Mei on her lap.

Heading down the corridor, Jade led the way to the bathroom, Opal following closely behind. "Jade! What are we doing?"

"We're going to follow Wes and Elizabeth, obviously. We can't let them get away! We need to bring them back before we all get in big trouble!"

Seeing that the bathroom was decidedly Elizabeth-free, they hopped off the train and started to look around. Seeing a flash of blonde entering a nearby train, Opal pointed and started running towards it.

"She's not getting away so easy," Jade muttered, as they got on the train, stalked down the car and tracked down the flash of blonde, lightly grabbing the woman's arm before realizing to their horror that it was not Elizabeth.

"Ah! Sorry, miss!"

Just as Opal started to turn grab her sister and turn back to get off, they felt the train begin to move. "Oh no! The train's leaving, Jade, what are we gonna do? Mom and Dad are waiting for us!"

Jade, however, remained calm. "It's ok, Opal. We'll just keep checking the train, and then if Elizabeth and Wes aren't here, then we'll call Mom and Dad from wherever we are. Maybe Uncle Ed can take us back to Xing? He's only in Rush Valley, and everyone knows he isn't crazy about that place."

Opal nodded and lowered her head, her dark hair hanging into her gold eyes. Her sister looked around the moving car, before tapping the shoulder of an old woman.

"Excuse me, ma'am, where are we headed to?"

The elderly woman smiled down at the identical girls. "Why, dear, we're on our way to Ishval."

* * *

Elizabeth looked out the train window proudly, on the train headed for Central. Her brother sighed wearily, his head against the window. She could see how guilty he felt, and started to feel bad.

"I'm really sorry, Wes. Next time we see Uncle Al and Aunt Mei, I'll apologize, and to Mom and Dad too."

"I just hope this is over and done with soon so we can go back home," Wes said dramatically, before rifling through his bag for a small mechanical toy he was building for Henry. It looked like Al and Mei's cat, Martel, whom he was not fond of due to his cat allergy, but Henry adored. It was for that reason, and the fact that he had already made 2 or 3 of Xiao Mei that he was making it.

"Oh, relax, how long could it possibly take? We just need to do some research, that's it. It isn't like we'll be doing anything dangerous," Elizabeth replied with a dismissive wave of her hand, grabbing her dad's travel guide to do some reading up on Central.

* * *

A/N: And there you have it, chapter 2! I already love writing this fic, and I'm becoming so attached to the kids already! As always, please leave a nice review. It gets me super pumped to update more and more!

Bye lovies,

MyHikari


	3. Separated

Chapter 3

A/N: Hi lovies, I'm back. I'd like to thank everyone who faved, followed and reviewed, y'all are the best!

Infinite Katalyst: Yeah, Henry's not really a troublemaker likes his siblinhs/cousins. Although, he is only 6 so who knows?

: Yep, I don't think Alphonse would sit idly either. He's too protective for that!

GummyDrive: Hopefully their parents have some understanding, but, we'll see? Glad you liked the AlMei! :)

This chapter you get to meet:

•Reed Mustang → born 1921, aged 14 (Roy & Riza)

•Amina → born 1916, aged 19 (orphan)

* * *

**ATTENTION**: My sister wrote a lil prequel to this fic as a birthday gift to me. Check it out, give a review, enjoy more time in the TGA-verse! She worked hard on it, and would appreciate you guys reading it. It's called Xingese Shenanigans and it's written by Infinite Katalyst.

* * *

Alphonse felt the train start to move and shared a worried look with his wife. None of the kids were back in the compartment yet, and the journey to Xing was beginning.

"Alphonse, I'm worried. Do you think they got off the train?"

The alchemist shook his head, trying to clear his head of any suspicions. They were all good kids! "No, I doubt it. I'll go look for them, you stay here with Henry, ok?"

He proceeded to comb the entire train car, explore another one or two, check the engine room, ask around, and find that there was no sign of any of the kids anywhere. Worrying for Jade and Opal, he at least hoped they were with their cousins, before he realized something that made him start to panic.

Walking back to the compartment, he manage to whisper out his wife's name. She looked to him, saw how pale he was and felt her heart sink.

"Ed's gonna kill me," he choked out. "A-and Winry...she'll destroy what's left."

"We're getting off at the next stop!" Mei said, standing and taking control of the situation. "We'll call Edward and Winry, and then we'll try to figure out where they went. What if they were kidnapped?!"

Al shivered, remembering the sorts of riff raff he and Ed ran into as teenagers. Taking a few deep breaths, he tried to calm himself. "Hey, if we could survive as teenagers running around with all sorts of dangerous things going on, then I'm sure they can handle it, right?"

"You guys had the support of the military though, they're just four kids. We have no clue where they are. I'll call Ling, tell him we probably won't be able to come right away."

* * *

Elizabeth looked out excitedly at Central Station, waiting to get off the train. She practically oozed excitement, babbling on about her plans, and annoying Wesley.

"Do you have any idea where we're going, El?" he asked, as they got off the train, and walked around, taking in how large the city was.

"Ehh, well, not really. But I do know this train station is near the heart of the city, where all the important buildings are."

"So what was the plan, just walk around until you find the right building? Unbelievable!"

"No," she said, smirking. "I was planning on asking for directions."

"Oh that's not suspicious at all, 'um excuse me, Mr. Military Officer Guy sir, can you tell me where the Fuhrer's house is?'" Wes spoke, imitating a girl's voice.

The Elric girl stopped, and looked up to her brother frustratedly. "I know you aren't happy to be here, but I swear it's taken your snark up to 11!"

Wes sighed and pointed to a map of the city. "Let's take a look at that."

Getting an idea of where they were going, the two traveled into the heart of Central, happening upon one of the National libraries so crucial to Elizabeth's plans. The two walked in, observing the inside.

"It looks like we have to identify ourself to get in." Wesley whispered to his sister.

"That is a problem," she replied, taking two leaves off of a potted plant and leading him back outside and drawing a transmutation circle. She transmuted the leaves into a fake blonde mustache, before handing it to Wesley. "Pretend to be the Fullmetal Alchemist. It said only State Alchemists and military personnel are allowed inside on a sign back there."

"You want me to pretend to be Dad with a fake mustache? This isn't going to work, El." Wesley said, attaching it to his upper lip.

"We have to try! We didn't come this far just to not get in the library!"

With a glare, the two approached the front desk, Wesley attempting to act older than his age. "Hello," he spoke, taking on a blustery voice. "I'm Edward Elric, the Fullmetal Alchemist in town with my daughter. I would like to go do research for my next speech."

"Aren't you retired, sir?" the middle aged woman asked, looking up from her paperwork.

"Why yes I am, but my good friend Roy Mustang told me I could come do my work here!"

"Do you have a note from Fuhrer Mustang?"

"Well, no but-" Wesley began, before Elizabeth jumped in, putting her hand up in front of her brother's mouth.

"You know how lazy Fuhrer Mustang can be, ma'am. Naps take precedence over notes."

The woman stared at the pair, trying to decide if she should let them in or not, before a voice behind the Elrics spoke up.

"Did you just call the Fuhrer lazy?"

Elizabeth turned around and looked up to see a boy with black hair and brown eyes, wearing a school uniform of some sort. She tried to be charming and chuckle. "Well, it's no secret the Fuhrer isn't terribly keen on paperwork."

"That's my father you're speaking of, and he is a great man! A hero!" the boy said, startling the hell out of the blonde siblings. Wes turned around to look, his mouth hanging open, the fake mustache falling off.

"You aren't even really the Fullmetal Alchemist! The real Edward Elric is way shorter than that! Did you honestly think a harebrained plan like that would work, you vagabonds?!"

"Hey!" Elizabeth cried, offended. "It would've worked until you opened your mouth, daddy's boy! For your information, we're the children of the Fullmetal Alchemist, and my Dad is only an INCH shorter than him."

"You're the children of Edward Elric?" the boy asked skeptically. "Then where is he?"

"He isn't here," Wes spoke, looking down at the teen. "We're traveling by ourselves."

"What are your names?"

"I'm Elizabeth Elric and he's Wesley Elric." El said, glaring at the Fuhrer's son.

"Well, Liz, I'll cut you a deal because you're cute. I'll take you to my father and then maybe he can call your dad and have him pick you up."

Wesley exasperatedly caught Elizabeth by the collar of her red jacket, as she attempted to jump at the boy. "Don't call her Liz."

"Beth then?"

"No nicknames!" the girl shrieked.

"The name's Reed Mustang, please come with me. If I have to get a military officer to escort you by force, I will."

"We'll cooperate. We wanted to meet your Dad anyway." the elder Elric said, prodding his sister along. She was still pouting about being called Liz.

The woman at the front desk who had watched the whole exchange, rolled her eyes. "Wow... John, I'm taking my break."

* * *

Opal looked out sadly at the desert she and her twin found themselves in. Jade was talking to a ticket vendor, leaving her sister on the bench, still scared about being separated from her family. Jade approached the bench, a sad look on her face.

"They can't give us tickets home."

"What are we going to do? They'll never know to look for us in Ishval, Jade!"

"Opal, we have to stay calm. We'll figure something out. Did you try calling Uncle Ed?"

Opal looked at her hands nervously. "I remembered that the number was in my suitcase."

Jade nodded, trying to figure out their next course of action. "Maybe the Ishvalan leaders can help us?"

The two began to walk around, taking in the hustle and bustle of the city. It was around sunset, and the girls were starting to feel hungry.

Finding an important looking building, Jade nudged Opal in the direction of a woman standing gaurd. "Let's ask her for help."

"Excuse me miss, we've gotten separated from our parents and are lost. We were hoping we could get some help." Jade spoke, speaking to the young Ishvalan lady.

"Are your parents with you here in Ishval?" the older girl asked. She had typical Ishvalan looks about her, and her long white hair was pulled into a ponytail.

Opal shook her head. "We accidentally got on a wrong train. We're supposed to be in Xing."

"Hmm, well I myself can't help you, but Leader can. Let me take you to him, ok?" the young lady motioned for them to follow her into the building. "My name is Amina, what about you guys?"

"Jade and Opal Elric."

They followed the girl along several hallways before entering a room with a man sitting inside.

"Leader! This is Jade and Opal Elric, they've been separated from their parents and need help." Amina said, speaking respectfully to the man.

"Elric? As in Edward and Alphonse Elric?" The man asked, looking at the two girls. They didn't recognize the man, but he seemed to recognize them.

"Alphonse is our Dad," Jade said, holding her sister's hand to calm her.

"So he married the little princess of Xing then?"

The twins nodded, wondering how the man knew their parents.

"Your parents, they knew me back before the Promised Day. You've probably heard them refer to me as Scar," he said, pointing to an x shaped scar across his forehead.

"You're Scar?" Opal asked, exchanging a look with Jade. They did recognize that name, and had maybe even seen pictures too.

"Well, I've renounced that name actually, along with my birth name, but yes, technically I am Scar."

* * *

A/N: And that's the end of that! I hope you liked it and I hope you read my sister's oneshot! Some reviews would be greatly appreciated on both sides!

Sorry it took so long, but I hope you like it. Thanks for reading!

MyHikari


	4. Meeting the Fuhrer

Chapter 4

A/N: Hellloooo lovies, I'm so sorry this takes so long, college sucks. Why oh why do I feel compelled to be a teacher? Meh. Sorry for being whiny, I just feel really bad when I need to prioritize things ahead of updates, but my grades depend on that so it is what it is. Anyway, I hope you all are doing swell, I've been watching Soul Eater lately, as well as my epic rewatch of Naruto, and keeping up with RWBY and Legend of Korra. It's exhausting.

Infinite Katalyst: Reed is, well you know Reed. XD We've talked about this and him and how glorious things are when he's involved. And I like the idea of Scar seeing the twins and just being like "I know EXACTLY who you and your doofus parents are."

isidipi: Well, I really cannot reveal this at such a time, lol. And Elizabeth is 15.

GummyDrive: Yeah, like I said to Infinite Katalyst, I adore the idea of Scar instantly recognizing Jade and Opal because he knew Al and especially Mei way back when.

Alaina Kuski: Agreed! XD And that's if Mei and Al don't get to them first!

xo-skyla: Elizabeth and Reed will have an interesting relationship for sure based on how their fathers are! And as for the relationship between Mei and Scar, I agree I thought it was kinda cute that he just sorta took her in, even before he realized she was a little killing machine!

This chapter re/introduces:

•Elicia Hughes → born 1911 (aged 24)

•Selim Bradley → born ? (aged 22)

•Scarlett Mustang → born 1923 (aged 12)

* * *

"Will! Betty! Come this way!" the young man named Reed called, leading them down a hallway in Central's military headquarters. Amestris was now less militaristically inclined, but there was still a presence in order to ensure enemies would not attack the country in their complacent times.

"It's Wesley and ELIZABETH," the Elric girl practically screamed, drawing the attention of military personnel in the area.

"El, calm down," Wes whispered, looking down at her disapprovingly, a silent reminder of where they were.

"It's like he's intentionally getting our names wrong!" she whisper-hissed, defending herself.

"Yeah, because it gets you so worked up!"

The Mustang boy stopped, eyeing them sharply. "You know I can hear you right, Betty?"

"I hope so, then you'll know you're going to get your ass kicked."

The little spat was interrupted by a young woman with light brown hair and green eyes placing her hand on Reed's shoulder. Instead of uniform pants, a skirt was worn with her jacket to show her civilian status.

"Reed, what's the commotion all about? You know your mother won't be pleased if someone complains about it."

"Ohh, Elicia, what are you doing down here? Don't you have papers to file or something?" Reed asked, clearly getting nervous by the woman's presence. She brushed her ponytail behind her indignantly, and hefted some books on her hip.

"Your father sent me to fetch some books for him from the records room. Why you acting so suspicious, kiddo, is that your girlfriend over there?" Elicia replied, whispering the last part conspiratorily with a wink.

"No!" he huffed, crossing his arms. "I caught these two vagabonds trying to intrude in one of the libraries and I'm bringing them to Dad!"

"Vagabonds? They really don't look it..." the assistant to the Fuhrer replied, looking over the Elrics. "Actually, they look kind of familiar."

"Children of Edward Elric, pleasure to meet you!" Elizabeth piped in with a hand extended, crossing her fingers that it would mean something to the woman.

"Edward Elric? That means your mom is Winry! I love her, she was so nice to me growing up!" Elicia squealed, growing excited. "Oh my goodness, you must be Elizabeth, you look just like her!"

Reed rolled his eyes. Elicia Hughes was like a surrogate older sister to him, but she certainly had some excitable tendencies. "Can we see Dad or what, Elicia?"

"Oh! Yeah, sure!"

Thus the ponytailed woman led the trio of teens upstairs to the office of the Fuhrer, Roy Mustang. Elizabeth looked to see Wesley fiddling with his fingers nervously, and touched his arm, giving a reassuring smile.

"Hey, Elicia. Got those books for the Fuhrer?" a dark haired young man, asked, standing gaurd in front of the office.

"Yep, also Reed has some friends he wants his dad to meet."

"They're not my friends, Elicia!"

"Oh, whatever! You're so dramatic!" she retorted, pinching his cheek and looking back to the gaurd. "I'll come back out to talk to you in a minute, Selim. Lemme just drop these off first.

Selim nodded and opened the door to the office with a smile, allowing the group to enter the large office. A sitting area seemed to be in place in front of the desk, and the Fuhrer himself there telling a story, his wife and daughter seated by him.

"And so I said, 'I'll just incinerate you all, how about that?'"

Wes and El exchanged a look at the nonchalant story, and heard Reed clear his throat. Elicia placed the stack of books down on the coffee table, patted the head of the young girl and stepped out of the office happily, never saying a single word.

"Dad, I have some people I'd like you to meet. They were trying to sneak into the National Library, and claim to be-"

"Fullmetal's children?" Roy asked, looking at the two blonde teenagers interestedly. His wife, Riza, seemed to agree, giving a nod of her head.

"How did you...?" Reed started to ask, his voice trailing off in confusion.

"Well the boy looks just like him for starters, and the girl looks like his wife, and also Fullmetal shows me their pictures whenever he's in town, probably to annoy me on purpose," the older Mustang replied with a shrug, standing from the couch and observing them some more.

"Nice to meet you, Fuhrer Mustang," Elizabeth said, putting her hand out for a shake. Roy looked at her hand, before raising an eyebrow.

"Elric doesn't know you're here does he?" the man asked, eliciting a gasp from Elizabeth. Wes merely facepalmed, before shooting his sister a side-eyed glance.

"Clearly not, otherwise he'd be here as well and they wouldn't have attempted to sneak into the National Library," Riza said, standing next to her husband with a wry smile.

"Well, I.." the Elric girl began, a little surprised at the transparency of the situation. Reed looked back and forth between his parents and the two teens, wondering what his father would do.

"You'll have to tell us what you're doing here over dinner tonight," Roy stated, his dark eyes flickering to meet Riza's. "So I can determine whether or not it's necessary to put a call in for your father to come get you."

"Scarlett, you don't mind sharing your room with Elizabeth, do you?" Riza asked, looking to the twelve year old girl who remained on the couch, a book in her hands. She light brown hair, dark eyes, and an uninterested expression, but shrugged in response to her mother's question.

"I suppose not."

Reed looked to his parents, flabbergasted. "Are you seriously going to have them stay with us?!"

"Oh Reed, calm down," Roy said, clapping a hand on his son's head. "They're sort of family friends."

* * *

Jade finished running the brush borrowed from Amina through Opal's hair, and began to braid it for bed. Scar had suggested that the twins stay with the girl for the night, so that they could have time to figure out what to do in the interim. The older girl was very kind, making some dinner, and even letting them bathe, as they were not used to all the sand.

"Hey, Opal. Remember when Mom was 12 and she crossed the desert all the way from Xing so she could try to find the Philosopher's Stone? She was all by herself, except for Xiao Mei, and Scar helped her. Then she met Dad."

Opal nodded, the braid complete, before turning to help Jade with her hair. It was a nightly routine for the twins, and sometimes they even helped each other in the morning. Both had inherited their mother's thick and pretty hair, and they loved to play with it, sometimes even practicing on Wesley.

"Yeah, she said that Dad was trying to find her because he thought alkahestry could help them against that bad guy."

"Yep, and she spent almost all her time here travelling with this Scar guy. I think we can trust him, so you don't have to be so scared ok?" Jade said in a reassuring tone, but keeping herself perfectly still as Opal did her hair.

"You can definitely trust Leader," Amina spoke, entering the room and giving a smile. "I'm an orphan, but Leader always made sure I was taken care of. He's like the father I've never had in some ways."

"Really?" Opal asked, her gold eyes meeting Amina's crimson ones. The white haired girl nodded, sitting on the bed with the twins.

"He cares for everyone in Ishval, and if he knew your parents, that's only more reason for you to trust him, I think."

"We'll have to thank him in the morning, Opal," Jade said, exchanging a look with her sister. "Thank you for letting us stay with you, Amina. We really appreciate it."

"Oh it's no problem, our elders say it is important to be kind. Now, I want you guys to sleep in here, ok? I'll be on a futon in the next room if you need anything, and tomorrow Leader may have figured out how to get you home."

The girls nodded wearily, and laid down, too exhausted to rekindle their earlier protest of Amina giving up her bed. Jade fell asleep quickly, and Opal soon did as well, first clasping her sister's hand for comfort.

* * *

"You WHAT?!"

Alphonse held the phone away from his ear, and exchanged a weary look with Mei, standing next to him on the dark train platform.

"Winry didn't take it well, I'm guessing?" Mei asked quietly, shifting a sleepy Henry in her arms. He was 6, and pretty heavy.

"Actually, it's Ed," her husband replied, referring to the ongoing shouting coming from the telephone receiver. "Brother, listen, I don't know where they are, all I know if that one by one they seemed to slip away and now our kids are nowhere to be found. We need a plan to try to find them before it's too late."

"Ugh, I'll get on the first train to East City, and I recommend you do the same," came Ed's voice into the receiver, a little hoarse from the shouting. "But who knows where they could be a this point?!"

"Alright, we can do that," Al said, relieved a plan was beginning to develop.

"Just be thankful that it's me coming and not Winry, or you'd be a dead man."

"I don't know that you're much better."

"I really don't think you're in a position to be giving me snark, Alphonse!"

With a sigh, Al wrapped up the conversation with his older brother, knowing his anger was merely masking his concern for the children. Waiting for a new train, the couple sat on a bench, awake with worry, their son asleep in their arms.

* * *

A/N: And there we have it, I finally got on update for you guys. I still feel pretty bad about the wait, but to be honest, an update a month is actually pretty normal for me.

As always, I hope you enjoyed it, and that you review, and also check out Infinite Katalyst oneshot Xingese Shenanigans because it's totally in the TGA-verse and is a sort of prequel kind of a little bit maybe?

Until next time!

MyHikari


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